


A Winter's Tale

by effloradox



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Domestic, Fluff, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, Romance, Sleepy Cuddles, Snake Crowley (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 14:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19175521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/effloradox/pseuds/effloradox
Summary: Being cold-blooded in winter isn't much fun for Crowley. Lucky for him, he has an angelic boyfriend that can warm him up.





	A Winter's Tale

It had been a cold winter so far. Normally the British winters weren’t severely cold, not to the point of Crowley needing to hole himself up indoors as an attempt to regulate his body temperature, but this one had been bad so far. It had been snowing heavily in London for a few weeks now and, whilst it had been somewhat pleasant at first, by now Crowley had grown sick of it. Being cold-blooded was awful in the winter. It felt like no matter what he did or what he wore, he just couldn’t get warm and his flat was no good for trying to fix that. His central heating left a lot to be desired and he wasn’t overly keen on having lots of blankets cluttering up the rooms. Hence why he was strongly considering asking Aziraphale if he could stay in the bookshop until the snow stopped. He couldn’t see the angel refusing, it was a good deed after all and everyone knows how much heaven loved those, even if it was being wasted on a demon.

There was something so comforting about being in the bookshop now. After spending nearly two centuries visiting Aziraphale there, it was almost like a second home by now. The two had spent so much time in Aziraphale’s backroom just enjoying each other’s company and it was always _so warm_ in the shop. The more Crowley thought about it, the more he wanted to go. Aziraphale made the best hot chocolate Crowley had ever had and, even if he didn’t actually use his bed very often¹, it was just as comfortable as everything else in the shop, more so when Aziraphale himself was in it. It didn’t take much longer for him to come to the conclusion that if he didn’t go to Aziraphale’s then he would just freeze in his flat. He wasn’t driving in this weather. It wasn’t that it would be risky², he just decided that it would be easier for both of them if he just had a little demonic miracle of his own to save some time and the effort of trying to drive in the heavy snow.

Appearing outside the shop was easy, all Crowley had to do was imagine himself there and then he was. He would’ve just miracled himself into the shop but last time he’d tried he’d accidentally set fire to one of the older first editions in the shop and Aziraphale had gotten annoyed at him and wouldn’t speak to him for a few weeks³. There was a convenient little alley near the shop that no one used anyway, it was safer going there and just walking the last minute of the journey. So that was what Crowley did.

* * *

The snowstorm had actually been very beneficial for Aziraphale. Horrible snow storms usually meant that not many people wanted to brave the weather just to try and buy a new book so he had kept the shop closed for the last week. Aziraphale quite liked the snow. He liked to look outside the show windows at night and watch it slowly start to build up on the usually busy streets. If he didn’t know any better, he would say that SoHo looked quite peaceful when the crisp snow had just fallen and everything outside was still. He could settle down with a book on his couch in the backroom with a nice cup of cocoa and his records and just enjoy the peace. Well, that had been the plan anyway.

What he wasn’t expecting was the insistent banging on his door disturbing him from his book at 1 am. The moment he heard the banging he assumed it was Crowley, after all, no customer would come at that time, but one could never be sure. Going out to answer the door, Aziraphale was surprised to see Crowley standing there without a coat on and visibly shivering. After being friends for 6000 years Aziraphale knew that Crowley struggled in cold weather so to see him without a coat was surprising, to say the least, and definitely a cause for concern. Aziraphale’s immediate instinct was to pull him inside, bundle him up in several blankets, and make sure that he got comfy so that was exactly what he did. Crowley didn’t even try to protest the angel doing this so Aziraphale could only assume that he came to the shop as an attempt to try and get away from the cold. Aziraphale was more than happy to oblige.

“You know you really should have just come straight here when it started to snow my dear boy. You know how you get when it gets cold and you know you’re always welcome here, you never should have waited this long and coming here without a coat on, whatever possessed you to do such a thing?” Crowley didn’t say anything, but the look he gave Aziraphale was enough for the angel to stay quiet until he had finished gathering up all the blankets from the shop and piling them on top of Crowley who was now lying on Aziraphale’s bed. “Right, I think that’s all the blankets I have, I’ll go and turn up the temperature if you want my dear, we just need to get you warm again.” Aziraphale was about to walk away from the bed when a hand reached out from under the blankets and grabbed the sleeve of his coat. He stopped and turned to face the still-shivering demon. “Crowley? Is something wrong?”

“Cuddle me. It’ss cold.” Aziraphale stared at the demon for a few seconds. _Cuddle him?_ It wasn’t the first time they’d cuddled by any means but usually, it was Aziraphale asking. He’d never really felt that Crowley had actively enjoyed doing it and only really agreed to appease the angel. It was…almost refreshing to hear the demon asking for any kind of affection really, especially something this physical⁴.

“Very romantic of you dear boy, demanding affection like that.” Aziraphale teased gently. The demon glared at him but both of them knew there was no malice behind it. Both of them knew that Aziraphale had Crowley wrapped around his little finger.

“I don’t give a ssshit about romance, I’m _cold_ . If you’re going to make fun of me, go make me a cocoa while you’re at it.” _Ah_. There was the usual Crowley the angel knew and loved. He just smiled.

“Of course my dear.” Aziraphale tried to move away so that he could go to make the cocoa but the hand on his sleeve still wasn’t budging. “I can’t make your drink if I can’t get to the kitchen Crowley. You’ll have to let go.” The hand just seemed to tighten its grip and a kind of softness entered the demon’s eyes when the angel looked at him again. The angel remained standing for a few more seconds before his resolve melted away and he sat on the bed next to the demon. “I suppose a quick miracle wouldn’t hurt anyone, it barely counts as a miracle really although you know I think food always tastes better when it’s physically made.”

Crowley shifted over slightly on the bed so there was room for the angel to lie down and get comfortable before he wrapped an arm around him. Once the angel was comfortable, he shifted his head so it rested on Aziraphale’s shoulder and closed his eyes. Aziraphale was always so warm⁵. It wasn’t just the kind of warmth Crowley could get from the central heating or a pile of blankets, the heat that Aziraphale radiated felt like it went to every single atom of Crowley’s body: it was all consuming and soothing. In hindsight, he really should’ve just come to the bookshop once the snow had started, it would’ve saved him a lot of trouble if he’d done that. Everything about the angel was relaxing and it would be so easy for Crowley to just sleep through another century if only Aziraphale would stay lying there with him.

“We’re not moving for a week now angel.” Crowley’s voice was soft, the heat always had made him sleepy and now it felt like it was seeping into his bones and relaxing every part of his body. The arm around Aziraphale’s waist tightened slightly as Crowley’s breathing started to even out and his shivering started to lessen.

“Well if the snow lessens then I’d have to go and open up the show Crowley, you know that I-“ Crowley groaned, cutting Aziraphale off, and pulled the angel closer to him, swinging a leg over him and effectively trapping Aziraphale on the bed with him.

“Stay. Please angel.” If it was any other time, Aziraphale would’ve joked that Crowley was going soft on him but right now he didn’t want to disturb him from the sleep that was so obviously taking over. It was rare for Crowley to be this vulnerable with him and he didn’t want to risk doing anything that would stop him from feeling free to be like this in the future. Aziraphale knew how much Crowley loved to sleep⁶ and if he could help him survive the cold winter then he supposed he could keep the shop closed for a few days, it was a small sacrifice.

“Okay, you old serpent. Temptation accomplished, that’s what we’ll do then.” Crowley sighed against Aziraphale’s neck, sending a shiver down his spine. A week of this didn’t seem like it would be too bad, the humans could survive without the two of them for a few days. He waited for Crowley to drift off before allowing himself to drift off too.

* * *

 Crowley woke up six days later spooning Aziraphale who had apparently decided at some point after Crowley had drifted off to sleep that he was going to spend the week sleeping too. He took a few minutes to allow his body to re-adjust to being awake before burying his face back into Aziraphale’s hair in an attempt to protect his eyes from the light. They always were more sensitive when he’d been asleep for a while. He noticed that there was less weight on top of him now, some of the blankets must have fallen off if they’d been shifting positions through the week. Oh well. That was a problem they could deal with when they decided to get out of bed.

“Oh, you’re awake. I thought you’d only wake up tomorrow afternoon dear.” Aziraphale slowly turned over to face the demon. Crowley’s shifting must have alerted the angel that he was awake. He smiled when he saw the ruffled state of Crowley’s hair. He would never say to Crowley but Aziraphale loved him with longer hair. “The snow started to get lighter a few days ago but it hasn’t fully stopped yet. You’re welcome to carry on staying here until it stops for good if you want to.” Crowley nodded slightly and let Aziraphale readjust the blankets around them so the two of them were completely covered by them again.

“Thank you for doing this Aziraphale.” The angel’s eyes softened as he just smiled at the demon. Crowley could only assume that maybe the way he was feeling now was what Aziraphale meant when he said somewhere felt like it was truly loved.

“It’s no problem dear boy. You know that you’re welcome to come round any time that you want to. I’m just glad you didn’t leave it too late. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.” Crowley could practically hear the sincerity in Aziraphale's voice. He pulled himself away from Aziraphale for a moment before pulling him closer and kissing him softly. The two stayed close together in silence for a few minutes before Crowley next spoke.

“I do recall you saying that I’d tempted you into staying here with me for a week and, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I still have another day of that.” Crowley smirked at him as the angel just blushed. Oh yes, the last day of their week together would definitely be _very_ fun.

* * *

 ¹ After all, neither of them actually needed to sleep. Aziraphale slept less than Crowley did because he didn’t really care for it but that wasn’t to say that he never slept. Usually, he only slept if he had to sell one of his books, it depended on how much he loved the book how long he slept; the longest had been a month which was still barely anything in comparison to Crowley’s record.

² If he cared about risky driving, he wouldn’t travel around central London at 90mph. Being risky was all part of the fun for him.

³ It had been an awful few weeks. Crowley couldn’t stand Aziraphale being angry with him, it was agonising knowing that he couldn’t just go round to the shop and see his best friend. He managed to tempt the angel into having lunch at the Ritz with him and Aziraphale had softened to him again but it was better to just not risk it.

⁴ Crowley was actually quite fond of physical affection. He just didn’t really care to admit it very often, he was a demon after all and demons weren’t meant to enjoy physical affection. It had taken a few thousand years for Crowley to actually become comfortable with Aziraphale even touching him let alone something as physical as hugging. But now, it was reassuring when it came from the angel, a way to tether him to the earth.

⁵ You would generally assume that it would be the demon that was always hot given the typical views of hell with all the brimstone and burning but you’d be wrong. Most demons were cold-blooded and it was angels that were usually hot. Angel’s bodies channelled heavenly light which meant that their body temperatures were higher than most humans would be able to stand.

⁶ Aziraphale had missed the demon when he slept through the nineteenth century. At first, he struggled to understand why Crowley wanted to sleep so much since he didn’t have to but when he’d asked, Crowley had likened it to Aziraphale enjoying a nice meal at the Ritz and it became a lot easier to understand: he did it simply because he enjoyed it.


End file.
